Five Ravens score in double-figures

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (December 1, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team battled Merrimack tough Wednesday night, but came up just short in the closing minutes by a count of 92-85 at The Fieldhouse in Rindge, N.H. The Ravens fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Northeast-10 play, while Merrimack improved to 4-1 and 2-1 in league action.

Five Ravens scored in double-figures, including sophomore guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who pumped in a team-high 19 points, grabbed five rebounds, handed out two assists, swiped a pair of steals and blocked a shot. Sophomore guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) tossed in 15 points and had three rebounds and three assists.

Freshman forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) and senior guard Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.) each chipped in with 12 points, while Dozier also collected seven boards. Junior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) logged a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, marking the second-straight game he pulled down double-digit boards.

Five Warriors scored in double-figures, including Roland Davis with a game-high 28 points. Darin Mency, the conference’s leading scorer entering the game, had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Wayne Mack and Tyler Young chipped in with 13 points apiece. Aaron Strothers added 12 points in the win.

Merrimack shot 55 percent (36-of-65) from the field, including 50 percent (9-of-18) from three-point range.  The Warriors also owned a 44-40 advantage on the boards.

The Ravens held a 45-44 lead at halftime and the opening minutes of the second half saw the lead change hands three times. Mack laid in back-to-back baskets around the 16:00 mark to put the Warriors up 55-52.

Merrimack pushed its lead out to double-digits at 72-62 with a little more than nine minutes remaining and the Warriors kept the lead around that margin for the next several minutes.

However, the Ravens began to mount a rally and slowly chipped away at the deficit. Freshman guard Andre Blackwood (Paterson, N.J.) hit a driving layup with 1:12 left to pull Franklin Pierce to within 87-81. Dozier converted a pair of free throws and Jean-Guillaume laid in a bucket in the closing moments as the Ravens were down by just four at 89-85 with :28 to go.

Franklin Pierce had a couple of opportunities in the waning seconds to chip further away at the deficit, but could not get a shot to drop. Merrimack, which had been receiving honorable-mention votes in the latest NABC Division II National Top-25 Poll, converted its free throws late to seal the win.

All three of Franklin Pierce’s conference losses this season have come by single-digits. The Ravens shot 42 percent (31-of-74) from the floor in the game. Eleven (11) Ravens played with nine posting in the scoring column.

The first half saw two ties and six lead changes. The Ravens held a 43-40 lead late in the stanza before Juan Carlos Rosich and Mency each knocked down a jumper in the paint to put Merrimack up by one. Abu responded at the other end of the court by draining a baseline jumper in the final minute to give Franklin Pierce the one-point advantage at halftime.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to Waltham, Mass. to face Bentley at 3:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).